Westfall Township lobbies to remove distressed status

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and Westfall Township officials held a hearing this week to consider whether the township could be removed from Act 47, the financially distressed municipality status.

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and Westfall Township officials held a hearing this week to consider whether the township could be removed from Act 47, the financially distressed municipality status.

Westfall requested rescinding the status, DCED did a study to determine if that would be appropriate, and the hearing was the next step.

Everyone is in agreement that the financially distressed status should be rescinded, said DCED Local Government Policy Specialist Jonathan Hendrickson.

That is the recommendation to be made to DCED Secretary C. Alan Walker.

Walker will review the study , hear testimony and make a final recommendation.

Being released from Act 47 status means the township will no longer receive oversight from the state. Westfall has been following a financial recovery plan and the plan is nearly complete.

"We have been less and less involved with them," Hendrickson said.

That is to be expected as a municipality recovers financially.

During the hearing, Hendrickson presented a detailed timeline of how Westfall became financially distressed through the settlement of several lawsuits.